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Hasegawa 1/48 scale Bf 109: Assembly sequence starts a flap
This is how experience comes into play: The more I handle this plane, the less likely it is I will damage it in the process.
Published:
February 5, 2010 In producing FSM’s Workbench Reviews, we always ask the review modelers to note any departures from the kit instructions, including the assembly sequence. Often, a kit’s peculiarities dictate an alteration in the order of things, and sometimes these adjustments are essential. We hope modelers find those notes helpful.
Still, you just can’t think of everything. So, sometimes you decide to save a part for later and wind up wishing you had put it on earlier. Other times – let’s say the third time – repeatedly knocking something off the model is a sign to save it for later in the build.
So, I mulled over when to install the dropped flaps on this plane. They look cool – at least, they should, provided I don’t break them off so many times they look battle damaged. I need to have them in place when I paint the camouflage – but I’ve already popped one off a couple of times while handling the plane for other purposes.
Thing is, when I am intently working on something else I am not thinking of the flaps. An insolent bystander may suggest this is an IQ test – to see if I can retain the knowledge of the flaps’ fragility long enough to avoid this “no step” zone – but I know of no intellectual cure for clumsiness. Nevertheless, there is no getting around the fact that this model will become more breakable from now on. So, I’m just going to have to learn. I can do that.
This is how experience comes into play: The more I handle this plane, the less likely it is I will damage it in the process. The more planes I build, the better my instincts and the less peril to the model. Right?
Well, maybe. According to the instructions, I was supposed to put the propeller on four steps ago. Pitot and landing gear are supposed to be on by now, too. But none of that is going to happen until later. I’ll paint many of these parts before attaching them, and I’m leaving them off as long as I can. I may have to continue working around the flaps, but I’m not going to push my luck. This is a mark of experience, too, albeit sad. When you’ve snagged as many antennas as I have, you learn to stay out of those places.
It’s the smart thing to do. Albert Einstein, when asked how it could be that he didn’t know his own phone number, explained that he made it a point not to memorize anything he knew he could quickly look up. My modeler’s corollary to this Einsteinian maxim is to refrain as long as I can from attaching anything I know I might trip over later.
Eventually, I will learn how to avoid breaking things while I work – but I intend to finish this model before then.
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